Halloween at 2U

A long-standing tradition at 2U is our annual Halloween costume contest and celebration. Each October, employees join together in teams to create amazing costumes, videos and even websites. What we love about this tradition is that co-workers come together to create something fun and, in the process, practice important skills such as teamwork, leadership, collaboration, managing, communication and, in some cases, deepen their not-necessarily work related technical skills, such as crafting, music production, video editing, and web and product design.

We wanted to learn more about how our employees work together as teams in their Halloween projects, so we asked a few of them to share highlights:

David Leme, on our admissions team, says he was impressed with his team’s ability to take something silly and make a quality video out if it. He thinks this project was helpful in bringing his team closer and showing them what they can do when they work together.

My teammates are really impressive at not only being directed, but coming up with fun and creative ideas. — David Leme, Admissions Counselor

Chiara Arch, on our corporate affairs team, says this project was a great activity for her new team, which has grown in the past few months. She was surprised by how well everyone took direction and went outside of their comfort zones for the greater good.

We are a new department at 2U and wanted people to see that we can laugh at ourselves and be seen as problem solvers. Being a new team, this was a great non-work project that created some fun bonding time. — Chiara Arch, Manager of Events

Katrina Rozga, in our Hong Kong office, said her team takes the Halloween contest seriously because they are so far away from all of 2U’s other offices. Since their office is made up of multiple teams, the Halloween contest was a great way to work across departments and gave them quality time to get to know each other.

It's amazing how a contest like this brings us together. We all work for different programs out here in Hong Kong, so it's nice to have a project we can all work on together as one team. I found that we all have different skills outside of the ones required for our positions. We had script writing, story boarding, directing, editing, costumes, etc., and every member contributed something different.— Katrina Rozga, International Admissions Counselor

Anya Smith-Jordan, on our content team, said that her team’s project gave them a chance to be creative while working together in a way they don’t always get to in their day-to-day jobs. It also helped her team learn more about each other outside of work.

No one's idea was of less worth than another's, and everyone had the opportunity to show their creative side. — Anya Smith-Jordan, Associate Producer

Dilsia Menjivar, also on our admissions team, discovered some hidden talents through creating a video with her team. She said her team learned how to accommodate everyone’s strengths and how to combine those strengths to make the best possible video.

The making of this video was a true team-building activity that brought us closer as a team. Every member of the team brought out their creative side, and it was neat to see this as it is something not always seen in the workplace. — Dilsia Menjiva, Admissions Counselor

Amanda Bauguess, on the learning and deveolpment team, said the project helped her team members take on new responsibilities and really step up to meet a quick deadline. She also saw the benefit of each person’s unique point of view in creating their costumes.

Going through a creative process in a very short period of time was only possible with everyone stepping up and owning a part of the production process. We all saw the end result get better with each team member's contribution. — Amanda Bauguess, E-Learning Developer

We’re proud to have amazing 2Utes that put so much time and effort into everything they do, and Halloween is no exception! We’ll be celebrating today at all five 2U offices. Check out the following recaps from our employees: